Teen dad spends $750 on picture of Xbox One

Emory Kale, 6th December 2013

In what appears to be a cautionary tale about reading eBay auction bids very carefully, a teen dad has complained after he spent $750 (£458) on what he thought was an Xbox One console.

Peter Clatworthy, of Bilborough, England, jumped at the opportunity to purchase an XBox One Day One edition console for $750 from what looked like a reputable eBay seller.

The 19-year-old admits that the item was specifically marketed as a "photo," but says the category it was listed under video games and consoles lead him to believe that it was indeed an Xbox One.

According to the Nottingham Post he looked at the seller's feedback and there was nothing negative. He bought it because he thought it was a good deal.

Unfortunately, he really was getting a picture of the Xbox, like the auction said. To be fair, the expensive snap was delivered quickly.

Fortunately, for Clatworthy, eBay agreed with him and has ordered the seller to return the money to Clatworthy by Monday.

The scam was clearly hoping to cash in on the fact that the Xbox was officially released in the UK and elsewhere on November 22 it is hard to find one and many have taken to eBay in the hopes of getting one in time for Christmas.

Lately eBay has been flooded with scam artists looking to pass off empty boxes as the real deal. One scam involved selling "XBox One Day One edition retail packaging." So far more than 80 have bid on the item and the highest is $11,800 (£7,200).